


The Skies Promised Companionship

by DenebYL



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Canon Era, Canon Universe, Ficlet, M/M, One Shot, Platonic or romantic you decide, or even during game?, pre or post game it can be either, whoops here's another self indulgent thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 13:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14137332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenebYL/pseuds/DenebYL
Summary: Balthier likes his midnights silent, eyes closed but with intentions far from for resting.Vaan likes his midnights for sleep.But he doesn't really sleep, per se.





	The Skies Promised Companionship

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS FFXII DISCORD U RUINED ME  
> also how many fics have I posted jesus christ I'm gonna lie down and rest for 10 years

Midnights were Balthier’s favourite.

The frosty cold ones especially, where with it, the morning sun is something like a rare game – perhaps a scarce delicacy, if you must.

Pure midnight velvet, the soft yet luminous moon beckoning for all to rest, promising that as consciousness wanes it will stand guard as time marches on, until the ever so familiar stretch of orange makes its way to be seen beyond the inky night colours.  
Murmurs frolicking among the southern winds, carried along like petals sprinkled on an Archadian spring. Be it the susurrance of leaves brushing up against one another, shyly withdrawing as the breeze wanes, or of the animals that roam, perhaps just now waking to seek prey.  
Where the stars shine brightest, the stretch of dreams dense as it is full of hope for tomorrow. Where if there were tears in his eyes, everything would became much bigger and much brighter, the blurred lights dancing in his sight, each a brilliant orb of light that gives him a sense of companionship.

That he isn’t alone in the skies. Not now, not ever.

Yes, Fran’s there, and she is always there for Balthier. He acknowledges that, and he appreciates that. She is there for him as he is for her, their mutual companionship something he would not trade for anything else in Ivalice, or all of the worlds.

 

And yet he would be lying if he were to say that loneliness is on the other edge of the cliff, or if it were on the other side of the door.

It is there behind him. It is constantly haunting his every footsteps, mimicking every movement his shadow makes, holding his hands wherever he goes. It is on the corner of the room, or it is so close to him that it is all he sees.

He would say he is used to it, but it gets unsettling sometimes.

So he turns towards the skies. The skies that hold promise of light within the blackest darkness, warmth within the coldest nights, humility within the most beautiful, the skies that promise companionship within loneliness – because for a moment time stops for him, and he truly, genuinely enjoys himself in this sanctuary.

The careful march of his own heart, one that has dealt with endless pain and heartbreak, now spreading its wings to the wide skies above.  
The soft sound of his own breathing, a careful pace that he has always maintained in moments of calm.  
The smooth surface of the Strahl, the airship that carries his burdens and dreams with him, and he is sure it always will.

This particular night had him share shifts with Vaan, and he wasn’t sure that the boy shared the amount of fondness he had for night shifts. The boy himself even fall asleep on one of the chairs in the back, then leaving Balthier to his own devices as he leans back on one of the cockpit’s chairs and lets the night sky embrace him once more – tonight was far too cold to be outside.

…

And yet the usual silence he had basked in was interrupted by a noise. Balthier turns, expression scrunched up in slight annoyance. He expected to see Vaan awake, failing to sneak away in silence, or maybe even one of the others…

But nothing.

The evidence of being upset soon washed away, but his eyes still scanned the entire cockpit. Perhaps a bug of some sort had made its way in. He did get distracted earlier, and left the door open while they were alighting in the Uplands…

But then he hears it again.  
This time even more clear.

“…I can fly it…”

Balthier laughs to himself, but only lets out a wry, short laugh.  
A riddle that should have been easily solved. Of course, the mumbling coming from his night shift partner. He should have thought of that first.

Turns out he talks in his sleep. Balthier wonders why he had never noticed that before.

He shrugs his slight annoyance off, and makes his way to the back of the plane, where the orphaned boy was sleeping. 

“…I’ll do it…”

 _There he is, at it again._ Balthier thought.

But as Balthier got closer and closer, his intentions to wake the boy up turned into curiosity.

What is the boy dreaming about, he wonders?

The boy that had foiled his plan, proving to Fran that the fates toy with them. The boy that had been following them relentlessly, insisting he be given apprenticeship to be a pirate…

Balthier finds himself wondering - If he ever had a figure like he is to Vaan right now, where would he be now?

Would he still love the night sky? Would he still have dreams of flight and freedom?

“…The Strahl…”

Balthier’s thoughts were put to a halt, and he grinned.

“Yes, we’re in the Strahl, Vaan.” He decided to reply playfully, the reason behind why he had no idea.

“…I’m… not…” Vaan continues, and the rest of the sentence becomes an unintelligible mess.

Balthier turns his head to the side, raising an eyebrow.  
“You’re not… sure… if you want to crash the Strahl?”

“…The Chocobo… it’s on the airship…” Vaan’s eyes were still closed, but his expression was that of telltale worry.

Balthier’s expression softened, and he smiled.  
“Ah yes, the Chocobo, you put it there.”

For once, the skies did not have Balthier occupied. It was a sleep-talking Rabanastran boy, dreaming of saving a Chocobo from the perils of airship flight.

Indeed, the skies promised companionship. But never did he think it would be like this.

 

At least he could make fun of Vaan tomorrow. Maybe even Penelo has stories to share.

**Author's Note:**

> ok but morosexual balthier like that text post floating around  
> consider


End file.
